Most-watched soccer games on U.S. TV: Feb. 16-22

Topics: NBC, FOX Sports 1, TUDN, NBC Sports Network, Universo, BeIN Sport Español, FOX Sports 2, ESPN Deportes, USWNT, Rose Lavelle, Everton, James, Liverpool, Brazil, Marta

NBC’s broadcast of the Merseyside Derby, which Everton won for the first time since the 2010-11 Premier League season, was the most-watched soccer game on U.S. TV from Tuesday, Feb. 16, through Monday, Feb. 22.

Everton defeated Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield on Saturday to end a 10-year Merseyside Derby victory drought. The game's broadcast by NBC was the most successful of the week in the U.S., receiving a 0.65 viewership rating for the 1,089,000 average viewers who watched the game. However, the second and third most-watched games of the week are not Premier League games for the first time in three weeks.

The 2021 SheBelieves Cup beat NBC Sports Network and TUDN to the No. 2 and No. 3 spots on the leaderboard last week. On Thursday, the U.S. Women's national team took down Concacaf rivals Canada 1-0 thanks to a Rose Lavelle goal in the 79th minute. At the time, the broadcast became the highest viewed in SheBelieves Cup history with 498,000 viewers. However, the USWNT's 2-0 win over Conmebol giants Brazil on Sunday beat the record set on Thursday, with the broadcast reaching 568,000 viewers. The game between the USA and Brazil is now the third-highest viewed game on FS1 and the third-highest USWNT game on viewership that does not include World Cup games.

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Twelve TUDN broadcasts, including games from three different competitions, cracked into the Showbuzzdaily's top 150 cable originals and network finals last week. In fact, TUDN screened a game on each day of the week from Tuesday, Feb. 16, through Monday, Feb. 22. The most successful of the bunch was a Liga MX game between Tigres UANL and Club Tijuana on Saturday. The broadcast reached 420,000 viewers and received a 0.19 rating. TUDN also screened the UEFA Champions League games between Barcelona and PSG, and Porto and Juventus. The most successful one out of the two was PSG's 4-1 away win over Barcelona on Tuesday, which attracted 270,000 viewers. The third competition that the Spanish-language television channel televised was the USWNT win over Brazil in the SheBelieves Cup game. The broadcast received a 0.08 rating after 177,000 average viewers watched the game.

Five Premier League games were screened on NBCSN. Surprisingly, a goalless draw between Burnley and West Brom on Saturday had the best viewership – 395,000 – out of the five broadcasts and received a 0.24 viewership rating. Southampton's 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Saturday morning was the second most-watched game of the channel last week with 292,000 viewers.

Universo, beIN Sport Español, FOX Sports 2 and ESPN Deportes each landed one broadcast in the Showbuzzdaily's top 150 cable originals and network finals last week. The telecast with the most views was the Merseyside Derby on Universo with 160,000 average viewers.